Local students learn about STEM career from Gatwick apprentices
Above: Liberty Frankland Gatwick engineering apprentice working at the airport.
The event saw 62 schools – half of them from Sussex, Surrey and Kent - tuning in to the online broadcast, which is designed to inspire students – including young women and girls - into pursuing careers related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Separately, to raise awareness of the important role STEM subjects can play in future careers, Gatwick has also partnered with Millais – an all-girls school - in Horsham where they are working with Year 7 pupils and their parents to encourage them to consider a STEM career path in a structured education programme throughout the year.
Wednesday’s Learn Live session was hosted by Liberty Frankland, a female Gatwick Airport engineering apprentice from Horsham who said: “I decided an apprenticeship was for me as I wanted to continue studying and learning more, but I wanted the experience and context to what I was learning which I felt I couldn’t get from going straight to university.
“The airport is a great place to learn more about engineering and other technical or science based subjects and I hope that this broadcast has helped to inspire other students into considering careers in these subjects.”
Gatwick’s 2019 Learn Live programme will consist of six broadcasts. This includes a Big Assembly in a school in Crawley where a studio audience of students and a virtual audience of schools from around the UK asks questions of a panel of experts from the airport. This event alone is expected to reach approximately 30,000 students from 250 schools.
The broadcasts are recorded and posted on Gatwick’s website so the sessions to date can still be watched on the Gatwick website by students not able to take part in the live sessions. Subjects and dates for other broadcasts in this year’s programme will be announced shortly.
Recruitment for Gatwick Engineering apprentices is open from 4th Feb – 26th April when more information will be made available on the Engineering Apprenticeship page on Gatwick’s website.
Gatwick launched the Learn Live streaming platform in 2017 and is the only UK airport to use the service which gives students the opportunity to ask questions directly to the airport’s staff.
Tony Yates, Head of Engineering, Gatwick Airport, said: “These broadcasts are an engaging, interactive way to give young people insight into the world of work and STEM related careers in particular. They can help people to make decisions about what they might want to do, or what they might go and learn about as they start thinking about the direction of their future careers.
“It’s also important for Gatwick to inspire young people in these subjects as we need to develop a pipeline of talent to meet the future needs of employment and skills at the airport.”
Sue Husband, Director, National Apprenticeship Service added: “These live broadcasts will give young people considering an apprenticeship real insight into what it’s like to be an apprentice and what’s required from an apprentice in the workplace today. We have some fantastic apprenticeship employers lined up to give their vision of what qualities an apprentice needs to bring to the role and the brilliant opportunities they can expect. These broadcasts will reach thousands of young people and will really give them a taste for how far they can go with an apprenticeship.”
